Date:           September 26, 1996

For Release:    Immediate

Contact:        Lori Starr
                  Director, Public Affairs
                Libby Rogers
                  Public Affairs Associate

Deadline Approaches
for Nationwide Getty Art Event for Students
*Wave Your Banner* Applications Due December 16, 1996

Los Angeles, CA--This school year, thousands of middle school students
are participating in a national art event, *Wave Your Banner: Exploring
Community through Art,* sponsored by the Getty Education Institute for
the Arts.  Working as a team with classmates and teachers, children in
the 6th*8th grades are creating colorful banners from fabric, paint, and
mixed media to illustrate the unique character and quality of their
communities.  The deadline for middle school teachers to submit their
students' entries for *Wave Your Banner* is December 16, 1996.

In February 1997, one banner from each state will be selected for
outdoor display in Los Angeles at the new Getty Center.  Scheduled to
open in late 1997, the new visual arts and humanities complex will
feature the new J. Paul Getty Museum, conservation laboratories,
research facilities, a multipurpose auditorium, and extensive public
gardens.  The rest of the banners submitted will also be exhibited*either
flown from local state capitals or exhibited electronically on ArtsEdNet,
the Getty Education Institute's World Wide Web site
(http://www.artsednet.getty.edu/).  Leilani Lattin Duke, Director of the
Education Institute, comments, *This project is meant to enrich students
and teachers in every middle school classroom, and help to demonstrate
the value art brings to life in every city, town, and community in the U.S.*

All entries will be reviewed by a selection committee.  Finalists from each
state will be selected by a random drawing.  To qualify for the drawing,
entries will be judged for creativity, artistic merit, and on a
comprehensive approach to making and understanding art (art
production, art history, art criticism, and aesthetics.)

The two-year project will culminate with the three-day *Kids Congress
on Art,* to be held at the new Getty Center in late fall 1997.  One student
from each finalist classroom, with an accompanying parent, teacher, or
administrator, will travel to Los Angeles for the Congress to participate in
workshops with prominent artists and arts educators.  In addition, they
will be led by local middle school students on a tour of significant
Southern California art and cultural sites, including the Getty Center, the
new J. Paul Getty Museum, artists' studios, and creative centers of the
entertainment industry.

The Getty Education Institute is dedicated to improving the quality and
status of arts education in the nation's schools.  It initiates and supports
programs in four major areas: advocacy for the value of art in education;
professional development for teachers and administrators in schools and
universities; theory development; and curriculum development.
                                                                                For an entry packet and details on DBAE, middle school teachers
should write to:
*Wave Your Banner*
Getty Education Institute for the Arts
c/o Pacific Visions Communications
9000 Sunset Blvd., Suite 700
Los Angeles, CA 90069

# # #

The J. Paul Getty Trust is a private operating foundation dedicated to the
visual arts and the humanities.  Through a museum, five institutes, and a
grant program, the Getty provides opportunities for people to more fully
understand, experience, value and preserve the world's art and cultural
heritage.  The Getty comprises the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty
Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, the Getty
Conservation Institute, the Getty Information Institute, the Getty Education
Institute for the Arts, the Getty Leadership Institute for Museum
Management, and the Getty Grant Program.